• Question: Do people have memories of being in the womb and could they be remembered with hypnosis?

    Asked by to Alan, Deepak, Francesca, Lilly, Nick on 18 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Alan Fitzsimmons

      Alan Fitzsimmons answered on 18 Mar 2014:

      Scientists don’t believe so. In fact, most people’s memories don’t fully switch on until about the age of 3. Most people remember a few things before their 3rd birthday, but scientists believe the growing brain is spending a lot of its time learning how to do things like walk, talk, and figuring out cause and effect.

      For example, I can remember sitting on my grannies knee when I was about 2 years old, but I can’t remember much else until I was 3 years old.

    • Photo: Francesca Day

      Francesca Day answered on 18 Mar 2014:

      We don’t think so – there’s certainly no evidence for it!

    • Photo: Lilian Hunt

      Lilian Hunt answered on 19 Mar 2014:

      Scientists don’t believe that we can really. When we are born, the part of the brain we think is responsible for memories isn’t completely developed. Although there are plenty of stories out there of children remembering things about the womb of birth when they are very young (about 2 or 3 years old) that they later forget. However this is very difficult to test in any scientific way so for now we believe most memories develop later on when the part of the brain thought to be used for memories develops.

    • Photo: Nick Wright

      Nick Wright answered on 20 Mar 2014:

      We don’t think so, and nobody has ever come forward to say they have memories from that early in life. Most babies in the womb have their eyes shut (and their wouldn’t be much to see anyway) and don’t seem to have active senses, so there wouldn’t be much to remember anyway!

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